High density and high signal integrity connector

ABSTRACT

A high-performance, multi-row contact matrix electrical connector having a spring element in the form of an elongated hollow split tube with a heat-recoverable member of shape-memory alloy positioned within the tube and including first and second sets of parallel spaced conductors terminating at least at one end thereof in a first and second matrix of contact pads, the matrices and the pads being positioned within the split, a change in temperature changing the shape-memory alloy from one metallurgical state to another, causing movement of the heat-recoverable member and the spring means to open and close the connector.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The invention relates to electrical connectors and more particularly tomulti-contact, multi-row zero insertion force connectors usingshape-memory alloys to actuate the connector.

2. Prior Art

In the past, a thermally responsive electrical connector has beendeveloped which provides a zero insertion force coupling for connectingtwo electrical components wherein a plurality of parallel conductorsalong one component are connected with corresponding conductors alongthe other component. Such a connector is disclosed in commonly-assignedU.S. Pat. No. 4,621,882 to Krumme. The patent discloses the combinationof a heat-recoverable member of shape-memory alloy and a spring meanswhich are components of an elongated hollow split tube, the connectorfurther including a plurality of parallel spaced conductors which wraparound the tube and extend within the split of the hollow tube, openingand closing of the split causing the conductors to contact a substratethat may be inserted within the confines of the tube, the substratehaving identically spaced conductors.

Although the above-mentioned conductor is a breakthrough in theconnector field, it would further be desirable to have a thermallyresponsive zero insertion force electrical connector capable of a highdensity (e.g., 100 to 250 conductor lines per inch) of interconnectionswherein the density of conductors is not limited to a single row ofcontact points. It would also be desirable to have a connector whereinthe conductors are electrically isolated one from the other insophisticated flexible circuitry to produce a high-performance connectorcapable of passing high-frequency signals with minimum distortions. Itwould further be desirable to have a connector wherein the closing ofthe connector may produce a wiping action between the connector and thesubstrate to be connected in order to remove contamination that mayexist at the points of contact. The present invention provides such aconnector and is an improvement and an enhancement to connectorspreviously known.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The purpose of the subject invention is to provide a high density andhigh signal integrity connector having a minimum number of components toprovide a zero insertion force high-density interconnection withoptional wiping motion.

To accomplish this purpose, there is provided a high-performanceconnector having a spring means in the form of an elongated hollow splittube, a heat-recoverable member of shape-memory alloy concentricallypositioned within the spring means being biased by the spring means andincluding sets of parallel conductors, each set terminating at one endof each set thereof in a first and a second matrix of contact padswherein the contact pads of each matrix are spaced from each other inthat matrix in two dimensions, the matrices being positioned within thesplit of the spring means so as to provide multi-row contact. Inaddition, there is provided a spring means which may include armportions extending inwardly toward the axis of the split tube, thematrices being positioned adjacent the arms, closing of the connectorcausing a wiping motion between the contact pads and the pads of asubstrate that is to be interconnected.

In one aspect of the invention there is disclosed a high-performanceconnector comprising:

spring means, said spring means being an elongated hollow split tubehaving a longitudinal axis and an axially aligned split defining agenerally C-shaped cross-section with end portions;

a heat-recoverable member, said heat-recoverable member being elongatedand generally C-shaped and being concentrically positioned within thecross-section of said spring means and being biased by said springmeans, said heat-recoverable member formed from shape-memory alloyhaving a deformable state below a transition temperature and a memorystate above the transition temperature, said heat-recoverable membercapable of being deformed by said spring means when said alloy is in itsdeformable state corresponding to one dimension of said split, a changefrom its deformable state to its memory state recovering said member toits non-deformed shape corresponding to another dimension of said split;and

first and second sets of parallel spaced conductors, each setterminating at one end of each set thereof in a first and a secondmatrix of contact pads, respectively, the contact pads of each matrixbeing spaced from each other in that matrix in two dimensions, saidfirst and second sets of conductors at least partially surrounding saidspring means and said matrices being positioned within the split of saidspring means adjacent the end portions of said spring means, pads of thefirst matrix being positioned on one side of the split and the pads ofthe second matrix being positioned generally opposite thereto on theother side of the split, movement of said spring means causing theplurality of pads on each matrix to move toward each other to contactand electrically connect with a substrate that may be inserted withinsaid split.

For a better understanding of the invention, various embodiments willnow be described by way of example with reference to the accompanyingdrawing.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the high-performance connector of theinvention with a portion of a substrate in the form of a daughter board(shown in phantom) inserted therein.

FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view of the connector of FIG. 1 withthe connector in its open position.

FIG. 3 is a partial section view similar to FIG. 2 with the connector inits closed position about a daughter board.

FIG. 4 is a view taken along direction line 4--4 in FIG. 1 illustratingthe conductor contact pads of one matrix wherein individual conductorsof a multi-layered flexible circuitry are shown in phantom.

FIG. 5 is an alternate embodiment of a high-performance connectorwherein the first and second sets of parallel spaced conductors wraparound the connector, the connector including means to interconnect theconnector with a mother board.

FIG. 6 is another embodiment of a high-performance connector withalternate spring means to concentrate force onto contact pads.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged partial view of the end portion of a spring meanssimilar to that shown in FIGS. 1-6 that illustrates the generallyparallel motion of contact pads upon closing of the connector causing awiping action of the interface of the contact pads.

FIG. 8 is yet another embodiment of a high-performance connectorillustrating pressure pads connected to the end portions of the springmeans to uniformly support the first and second matrices of the contactpads.

FIGS. 9A-D are views of one set of parallel spaced conductors used inthe connectors shown in FIGS. 1-7 wherein the conductors are in the formof co-planar flexible circuitry wherein:

FIG. 9A is a partial perspective view similar to FIG. 1 of one set ofconductors positioned as they would be positioned as part of theconnector and above a substrate in the form of a mother board portion(shown in phantom);

FIG. 9B is a partial cross-sectional view taken along section line9B--9B in FIG. 9A showing a standard electrical arrangement of signalconductors in the left portion of the Figure and alternatively anarrangement for enhanced high speed signal integrity with alternatingsignal and ground conductors in the right portion of the Figure;

FIG. 9C is a partial perspective view of the mother board portion of theset of conductors shown in FIG. 9A; and

FIG. 9D is a partial perspective view of the daughter board portion ofthe set of conductor shown in FIG. 9A.

FIG. 10 is an enlarged partial perspective view similar to FIG. 9C of analternate structure for terminating co-planar flexible circuitry whereinthe insulated dielectric layer of the upper set of parallel spacedconductors is selectively removed exposing individual contacts which canbe permanently interconnected to the lower set of contacts by pressingthe sets together while heating the contacts to solder the contact padsby conventional solder-reflow or alternatively by thermosonic bonding ofthe pads of the contacts.

FIGS. 11A-E are views of one set of parallel spaced conductors used inthe connectors shown in FIGS. 1-7 wherein the conductors are in the formof a co-planar with ground plane flexible circuitry wherein:

FIG. 11A is a partial perspective view of one set of parallel spacedconductors similar to that illustrated in FIG. 9A positioned in aconnector configuration, one portion thereof positioned over a substratein the form of a mother board (shown in phantom);

FIG. 11B is a partial cross-sectional view taken along section line11B--11B in FIG. 11A, the left side of the Figure illustrating anarrangement of electrical conductors defined as micro-strip flexiblecircuitry, and the right side of the Figure illustrating an arrangementof electrical conductors defined as a co-planar alternating signalground with ground plane flexible circuitry;

FIG. 11C is a partial cross-sectional view of the mother board portionof the set of parallel spaced conductors as shown in FIG. 11A, theFigure illustrating the through-hole type means of interconnectingconductors to a mother board (not shown) and connecting the ground planeto a mother board;

FIG. 11D illustrates the daughter board portion of the set of parallelspaced conductors shown in FIG. 11A and showing the through-hole typeinterconnection of the ground plane and the surface conductors; and

FIG. 11E illustrates an alternate embodiment of a set of parallel spacedconductors wherein the set is used in a connector configuration similarto FIGS. 5 and 8 wherein throughhole connections are used tointerconnect the ground plane in both the daughter board and motherboard portions of the connector.

FIGS. 12A-C are views of one set of parallel spaced conductors used inthe connector shown in FIGS. 1-7 wherein the conductors are sandwichedbetween two ground planes, the arrangement of conductors defined asstrip-line flexible circuitry wherein:

FIG. 12A is a partial perspective view of one set of parallel spacedconductors positioned similar to the positioning of such a set in FIG.1;

FIG. 12B is a partial cross-sectional view taken along section line12B--12B in FIG. 12A; and

FIG. 12C is a partial perspective view of the mother board portion orthe daughter board portion of the parallel spaced conductorsillustrating the through-hole type contact of the conductors and theground planes.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

With continued reference to the drawing, FIG. 1 illustrates ahigh-performance connector (shown generally at 10) comprising springmeans 12, heat-recoverable means 14, and first and second sets 16 and 18of parallel spaced conductors 20. It can be seen that the first andsecond sets 16 and 18 of parallel spaced conductors at one end of eachset terminate in a first matrix 22 and a second matrix 24 of contactpads 26, the matrices and the contact pads being positioned oppositeeach other between the ends of the spring means 12 and theheat-recoverable means 14 to contact a substrate 28 (shown in phantom)that may be inserted within the connector 10. Although the substrate isshown to be a portion of a daughter board, it is understood that anysubstrate having mating contacts is within the scope of the invention.

FIGS. 2 and 3 illustrate the operation and further detail of theconnector shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 4 illustrates a set of parallel spacedconductors 20 terminating in a matrix 22 of contact pads 26, the contactpads of the matrix being spaced from each other in that matrix in twodimensions. The matrix concept provides a major improvement over priorconcepts and is the breakthrough referred to as the "multi-row"connector concept. The parallel spaced conductors 20 are on one layerseparated from the contact pads 26 by a dielectric material. Conductionis made between the conductors 20 and the contact pads 26 bythrough-hole type contact of the conductors and pads. FIG. 4, therefore,illustrates a multi-layered flexible circuitry construction. It can beseen by comparing FIG. 2 with FIG. 3 that the matrices 22 and 24 (whichmay also be defined as the daughter board portions of the respectivesets 20 of conductors) are positioned on opposite sides of theconnector. Closing movement of the connector will cause the plurality ofpads on each matrix to move toward each other to contact andelectrically interconnect with a substrate such as a daughter board thatmay be inserted between the matrices 22 and 24. FIG. 3 illustrates theconnector in such a closed position in contact with substrate 28 havingcomplementary matrices.

The multi-row/matrix concept allows a very fine pitch (e.g., 100conductors or more per inch similar to that illustrated) for the set ofparallel spaced conductors 20 to terminate in a two-dimensional matrixsuch as matrix 22. The contact pad size is much larger than the width ofthe conductors and may be on a centerline spacing larger than that ofthe conductors. Therefore, the actual alignment of contact pads 26 to asubstrate is based upon the matrix density and not the trace density,thus greatly increasing the connector density and decreasing thecriticality of conductor pad alignment. It is possible to routeconductors in a multi-layer flexible circuitry (as shown in FIG. 4) andto further include ground planes (as will be discussed with respect toFIGS. 11 and 12) which terminate in a multi-row matrix using multiplelayers and conductive vias through the layers.

The use of many types of flexible circuitry is within the scope of theinvention. FIGS. 9-12 illustrate various important types of flexiblecircuitry that may be used to make a high-performance connector that iswithin the scope of the invention.

The high-performance connector illustrated in FIGS. 1-4 includes springmeans 12 which may be described generally as an elongated hollow splittube having a longitudinal axis and an axially aligned split defining agenerally C-shaped cross-section with end portions 30. The spring meansis preferably a beryllium copper, although other materials providingsuitable physical properties to bias the heat-recoverable member 14 arewithin the scope of the invention. The embodiment of FIGS. 1-4 alsoincludes arm portions 32 connected to the end portions 30 of theC-shaped cross-section, the arm portions extending inwardly toward theaxis of the split tube. Inward movement of the spring means will causethe arm portions 32 of the spring means 12 to move toward each otherwhile simultaneously moving longitudinally inwardly toward the axis ofthe split tube. This movement will be discussed further as creating awiping action.

FIG. 6 illustrates a high-performance connector having spring means 12Awith alternative arm portions 32A. It can be seen that arm portions 32Aare convoluted to concentrate force and contact area adjacent contactpads 26A of the set 20A of multiple conductors. Although two lines ofcontact and corresponding convolutions are illustrated, it is understoodthat it is within the scope of the invention to provide multipleconvolutions to enhance pressure contact in the pad areas.

FIG. 7 shows the movement of a portion of the spring arm 32. As thespring arm closes along directional path 33 on the substrate 28, adownward wiping action is generated at the contact pad 26 simultaneousto the creation of high normal force contact. It can be seen thatbending of the spring arm, as noted at 35, produces the generallyparallel path motion of the contact pads toward each other to close theconnector while simultaneously producing the vertical movement over thedistance noted at 37 defined as the wiping action. The inward closingmovement thus causes the pads of each matrix to move toward each otherand at right angles thereto with respect to a substrate that may beinserted between the pads. The wiping action under high force helpsbreak through contamination and oxides that may be present.

A heat-recoverable member 14, which is also elongated and generallyC-shaped, is concentrically positioned within the cross-section of thespring means 12. The heat-recoverable member is formed from ashape-memory alloy having a deformable state below a transitiontemperature and a memory state above the transition temperature. Theheat-recoverable member 14 is capable of being deformed by the springmeans when the alloy is in its deformable state corresponding to onedimension of the split and is biased by the spring means. A change fromits deformable state to its memory state recovers the heat-recoverablemember to its non-deformed shape corresponding to another dimension ofthe split.

FIG. 8 discloses an alternate embodiment of a high-performance connectorshown generally at 34. Connector 34 comprises a spring means 36 whichmay also be described as an elongated hollow split tube having alongitudinal axis and an axially aligned split defining a generallyC-shaped cross-section with end portions 38. In this embodiment, the endportions 38 are provided with a pair of pressure pads 40 which areconnected to the end portions. The pressure pads 40 provide broadsurface areas to support the first matrix 42 and the second matrix 44 ofthe first and second sets of parallel spaced conductors 46 and 48 whichare wrapped around the spring means 36. Although the first and secondsets of parallel spaced conductors 46 and 48 are shown to be wrappedaround the connector (similar to the embodiment shown in FIG. 5), it isunderstood that the sets of conductors 46 and 48 may exit the connector,as shown in FIG. 1.

The embodiment of FIG. 8 also includes a heat-recoverable member 50which functions substantially identically to the heat-recoverablemembers described above.

The function of the pressure pad 40 is to provide parallel closingaction without wiping movement on substrate 28. This action will allowthe connector to conform to different substrate thicknesses. At highercontact densities and smaller pad size, the wiping action provided bythe structures shown in FIGS. 1-6 will not be advantageous. The wipingaction itself may cause misalignment.

FIGS. 5 and 8 illustrate the sets of parallel spaced conductors wrappedcompletely around the connector to provide a contact surface 56 on thebottom of the connector. In these alternate constructions, pressureapplying means 52 is positioned external to the spring means to forcethe sets of parallel conductors to interconnect with a mother board 54,as seen in FIG. 5.

Pressure applying means 52 in FIGS. 5 and 8 may be made of a compliantmaterial (such as a closed cell foam) or be formed from individualcantilever springs stamped into a spring material. The contacts may alsobe single point bonded or soldered to a substrate shown to be a motherboard 54. This can be accomplished by windowing both sides to allowaccess for bonding.

The heat-recoverable members 14 and 36 described above are made fromshape-memory alloy. Memory metals are alloys which manifest theshape-memory effect. Such alloys are well-known, and they and theshape-memory effect are discussed in, for example, "Shape-Memory Alloys"by L. McDonald Schetky, Scientific American, Vol. 281, November 1979,pp. 74-82.

Shape-memory alloys have been used for connectors, as described above,with regard to the earlier discussed commonly-assigned patent to Krumme.Generally, the material is a nickel-titanium alloy commonly calledNitinol, although copper-based alloys and other material based alloysare also useful. These shape-memory alloys are commonly called "memorymetals". These alloys exhibit a martensitic transformation from a lowtemperature form to a high temperature form, and it is thistransformation which produces the memory effect. These alloys aredescribed in various publications including "55-Nitinol--The Alloy witha Memory: Its Physical Metallurgy, Properties, and Applications" by C.M. Jackson, H. J. Wagner and R. J. Wasilewski, NASA Publication SP5110,1972, and "55-Nitinol--Unique Wire Alloy with a Memory" by William J.Buehler and William B. Cross, Wire Journal, June 1969. The copper-basedalloys, sometimes described as "beta-brass alloys", that exhibit thisproperty are described by N. Nakanishi et al., in scripta metallurgica5,433-440 (Per Gamon Press, 1971).

The transition temperature for the shape-memory alloy may be varied,depending upon the metal and upon certain processing parameters. It isunderstood that the subject invention is not limited to a particularalloy or transition temperature. It is preferred, however, that thetransition temperature be significantly above operating temperature toavoid accidental opening of the connector.

Although the heat-recoverable member may be raised in temperature byvarious means, including passing current through the shape-memory alloyor by including a resistance heater circuit in the flexible circuitry,it is preferred to use a separate heater means in the form of aresistance heater. Heater 60 is shown in FIG. 1 to be in thermal contactwith heat-recoverable member 14. In FIG. 6, heater 62 is also provided.

The heater element 60 is placed between the beryllium copper spring 36and the NiTi actuator 50 with separate electrical leads. The heater ispreferably not a part of the signal carrying circuit. This isolates theheater and allows less heat to be transmitted to the flexible circuitry20, 20a, 46 and 48 when opening the connector.

FIGS. 9, 11 and 12 disclose alternative forms of parallel spacedconductors wherein the conductors are a part of what is commonly called"flexible circuitry". FIGS. 9A-D disclose co-planar flexible circuitrywherein conductors are in a plane on the surface of a dielectricmaterial. FIGS. 11A-E disclose a co-planar with ground plane flexiblecircuitry which include co-planar conductors and a common ground planeseparated by a dielectric material. FIGS. 12A-C disclose strip-lineflexible circuitry wherein conductors are insulated within a dielectricmaterial and are sandwiched between a pair of ground planes.

FIG. 9A discloses one set, shown generally at 70, of parallel spacedconductors 72 terminating at one end in a first matrix 74 of contactpads 76. It is understood that a second set (not shown) of parallelspaced conductors is symmetrically positioned with respect to the firstset, as shown and discussed with regard to FIGS. 1-7. The first matrix74 is positioned to contact a substrate, presumably a daughter board, asdiscussed earlier, and this portion of the set 70 will be referred to asthe daughter board portion of the set.

The other end of the set 70, the conductors 72, terminate in a thirdmatrix 78 of contact pads 80, as can be seen more clearly in FIG. 9C.This portion of the set 70 preferably contacts a substrate in the formof a mother board (shown in phantom), and this portion of the set 70 isreferred to as the mother board attachment portion of the set 70.

FIG. 9B discloses a cross-section of the set 70 and the conductors 72Aand B. It can be seen that the conductors are all co-planar, thedistinction being that conductors carrying a signal are noted as 72A,and conductors serving as ground means are designated as 72B. The twodifferent circuit arrangements idealize the density of signal traces (inthe case of the left portion of FIG. 9B) and idealize signal integrity(in the case of the right portion).

FIG. 9D is an enlargement of the mother board attachment portion 74 ofthe set 70. It can be seen that contact pads 76 are connected withconductor 72, the pads forming the first matrix 74. The conductors 72run along the surface of dielectric material 82 to the point that theyterminate on the surface of the dielectric material 82 at the daughterboard portion of the set 70, as shown in FIG. 9C. Conductors 72terminate in pads 76A on the surface of the dielectric material 82. Inorder to pass the signal through the dielectric material 82, variousmeans are employed. As seen in FIG. 9C, through-hole portions 80 arecreated by perforating the dielectric material 82 and creating a post ora via through the dielectric material 82 to a pad portion on theopposite side thereof which will interface with a mother board.

FIG. 10 illustrates an alternative means to electrically interconnectpads 76B with a mother board. In this embodiment, dielectric material 82is perforated at 84, and the mother board 86 is provided with upstandingconductor portions 88 which will contact pads 76B when the layers arepressed together. Upstanding portions 88 are typically provided with afusible material, such as solder, and when pressed against the bottom ofpads 76B under temperature and pressure by known mass soldering methodswill create a permanent connection between the mother board and themother board portion of the flexible circuitry. The alternativedisclosed in FIG. 10 is a means for permanently interconnecting thehigh-performance connector to a mother board. In contrast, thethrough-hole concept of FIG. 9C may be used for either a permanent or atemporary (as in pressure) connection. This type of pressure connectionis that illustrated and previously discussed with respect to FIGS. 5 and7 and as will be discussed with respect to FIG. 11E.

FIGS. 11A-E illustrate a first set, shown generally at 90, of parallelspaced conductors 92 and further including a ground plane 94. Thisembodiment of flexible circuitry has a first matrix 94 of contact pads96 of flexible circuitry having a mother board attachment portion 98 anda daughter board portion 100. The conductors 92 in the mother board anddaughter board portions of the set 90 are terminated as discussed withregard to FIGS. 9A-D. The ground plane 94, as seen in FIGS. 11A and 11C,is electrically interconnected to the mother board (shown in phantom) bypad 102. The ground plane preferably does not continue across thesurface of the lower portion of the mother board portion of the set 90.

In the daughter board portion, as shown in FIG. 11D, the ground plane 94does continue beneath the dielectric 82 and makes contact with adaughter board (not shown) by means of via 104.

FIG. 11B illustrates different forms of co-planar with ground planeflexible circuitry. In the portion to the left, the signal can be passedthrough every conductor 92A. This type of flexible circuitry is commonlyknown as "micro-strip" flexible circuitry. The portion of the flexiblecircuitry to the right illustrates co-planar with ground plane flexiblecircuitry wherein parallel spaced conductors are alternately grounded(as shown in phantom) to ground plane 94. These conductors are noted in92B.

FIG. 11E illustrates an alternate embodiment of flexible circuitry, asshown in FIGS. 5 and 8, wherein the flexible circuitry or set 90B iswrapped around the connector to interface with the mother board. In thisembodiment, the mother board portion 106 is substantially identical tothe daughter board portion 100 shown in FIG. 11D. In this embodiment,the ground plane 94A is co-extensive with the contacts and extends asfar as contact 108 to provide effective shielding along the entiresurface of set 90.

FIGS. 12A-C disclose yet another embodiment of flexible circuitrywherein the set, shown generally at 110, of parallel spaced conductors112, the set terminating in a first matrix 114 of contact pads 116. Inthis embodiment, the mother board portion 118 and the daughter boardportion 120 are similar but are not identical. As seen in FIG. 12B,conductors 112 are sandwiched between ground planes 122 and 124.

As seen in FIG. 12C corresponding to the mother board portion of the set110, the conductors 112 are electrically interconnectable with thesurface through one of the dielectric layers 126 by through-hole or via128. The ground planes are shown to be interconnected by via 130. Via128 interconnects with pad 132 which is insulated from ground plane 124by removal of a larger diameter of material in the vicinity of pad 132.This geometry allows contact from both the signal output and groundplane to a mother board or to a daughter board.

It is understood that it is within the scope of the invention to wrapthe set 110 beneath the connector as previously discussed with respectto FIGS. 5, 8 and 11E.

From the foregoing detailed description, it is evident that there are anumber of changes, adaptations and modifications of the presentinvention which come within the province of those skilled in the art.However, it is intended that all such variations not departing from thespirit of the invention be considered as being within the scope thereofand as being limited solely by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A high-performance connector comprising:springmeans, said spring means being an elongated hollow split tube having alongitudinal axis and an axially aligned split defining a generallyC-shaped cross-section with end portions; a heat-recoverable member,said heat-recoverable member being elongated and generally C-shaped andbeing concentrically positioned within the cross-section of said springmeans and being biased by said spring means, said heat-recoverablemember formed from shape-memory alloy having a deformable state below atransition temperature and a memory state above the transitiontemperature, said heat-recoverable member capable of being deformed bysaid spring means when said alloy is in its deformable statecorresponding to one dimension of said split, a change from itsdeformable state to its memory state recovering said member to itsnon-deformed shape corresponding to another dimension of said split; andfirst and second sets of parallel spaced conductors, each setterminating at one end of each set thereof in a first and a secondmatrix of contact pads, respectively, the contact pads of each matrixbeing spaced from each other in that matrix in two dimensions, saidfirst and second sets of conductors at least partially surrounding saidspring means and said matrices being positioned within the split of saidspring means adjacent the end portions of said spring means, pads of thefirst matrix being positioned on one side of the split and the pads ofthe second matrix being positioned generally opposite thereto on theother side of the split, movement of said spring means causing theplurality of pads on each matrix to move toward each other to contactand electrically connect with a substrate that may be inserted withinsaid split.
 2. A high-performance connector as in claim 1 furtherincluding a pair of pressure pads connected to the end portions of theC-shaped cross-section of the spring means, said pressure pads providingbroad surface areas to support the first and second matrices of thecontact pads.
 3. A high-performance connector as in claim 2 furtherincluding heater means positioned adjacent the heat-recoverable memberbetween the heat-recoverable member and the spring means.
 4. Ahigh-performance connector as in claim 2 wherein the contact pads areraised relative to the surface of the matrix to enhance contact betweenthe pads and the substrate that may be inserted within said split.
 5. Ahigh-performance connector as in claim 2 wherein said parallel spacedconductors are co-planar.
 6. A high-performance connector as in claim 2wherein the flexible circuitry includes a ground plane definingmicro-strip flexible circuitry.
 7. A high-performance connector as inclaim 2 wherein the flexible circuitry includes a ground plane andwherein the parallel spaced conductors are alternately grounded to saidplane defining co-planar with ground plane flexible circuitry.
 8. Ahigh-performance connector as in claim 2 wherein the flexible circuitryincludes a pair of ground planes, said conductors being insulated fromand sandwiched between said ground planes, said circuitry definingstrip-line flexible circuitry.
 9. A high-performance connector as inclaim 2 wherein the flexible circuitry is a combination of two or moretypes of flexible circuitry.
 10. A high-performance connector as inclaim 1 wherein said first and second sets of conductors generallysurround the spring means and further including pressure applying meanspositioned between said spring means and said first and second sets ofconductors to interconnect the high-performance connector to a motherboard.
 11. A high-performance connector as in claim 1 further includingarm portions connected to the end portions of the C-shaped cross-sectionof the spring means, the arm portions extending inwardly toward the axisof the split tube, inward closing movement of said spring means causingthe arms of said spring means to move toward each other and radiallyinwardly toward the axis of the spring means causing the plurality ofpads of each matrix to move toward each other and at right anglesthereto with respect to a substrate that may be inserted between saidpads causing a wiping action with such a substrate.
 12. Ahigh-performance connector as in claim 11 wherein the contact pads areraised relative to the surface of the matrix to enhance contact betweenthe pads and the substrate that may be inserted within said split.
 13. Ahigh-performance connector as in claim 11 further including heater meanspositioned adjacent the heat-recoverable member between theheat-recoverable member and the spring means.
 14. A high-performanceconnector as in claim 11 wherein said parallel spaced conductors are apart of flexible circuitry.
 15. A high-performance connector as in claim11 wherein the flexible circuitry is co-planar flexible circuitry.
 16. Ahigh-performance connector as in claim 11 wherein the flexible circuitryincludes a ground plane defining micro-strip flexible circuitry.
 17. Ahigh-performance connector as in claim 11 wherein the flexible circuitryincludes a ground plane and wherein the parallel spaced conductors arealternately grounded to said plane defining co-planar with ground planeflexible circuitry.
 18. A high-performance connector as in claim 11wherein the flexible circuitry includes a pair of ground planes, saidconductors being insulated from and sandwiched between said groundplanes, said circuitry defining strip-line flexible circuitry.
 19. Ahigh-performance connector as in claim 11 wherein the flexible circuitryis a combination of two or more types of flexible circuitry.
 20. Ahigh-performance connector as in claim 11 wherein said first and secondsets of conductors generally surround the spring means and furtherincluding pressure applying means positioned between said spring meansand the first and second sets of conductors to interconnect thehigh-performance connector to a mother board.